Bread pakora is one of the yummiest party starter. I love making it when someone is coming home. Best part is you can make it whenever you have too much bread. Pakode or spiced gram flour fritters is an easy starters. Everyone loves making this street food at home. We all love fried food. They are a perfect tea time snack. Although deep fried food is not good if taken on daily basis, having it once a while is not a problem. I have also updated an air fryer version below if you like to make them yet cannot help counting your calories.
Pakode is a crowd favorite. People of all age groups love it. We make lots of pakoras in India. Be it double fried, onions, potatoes or mixed veg. These days non vegetarians even make chicken pakoda. Basically anything dunked in a gram flour batter and fried to perfection makes people happy.If you are travelling, you can just have fritters with bread.My mum even serves them with roti as a meal. Onion fritters can later be dunked in a kadhi for main course. Just serve it with rice. Punjabi kadhi pakoda makes lunch easy, if you like your yogurt. Just have some kadhi and sleep is guaranteed. Some people love the baked version too. If you have nothing at home and guests are coming over ,just go on and make some. Everyone loves it especially in rains and winter. Nothing like fritters and tea.
3 layered nonsense and our Autonagar group memories.
You can put a spicy potato stuffing inside to make a stuffed bread pakora or make it without it. This particular recipe is known as 3 layered nonsense in my home. My parents have made this so many times at parties when we were young.
Our friend circle is known as the Autonagar group and it had each family belonging to a different mother tongue, speaking a different language when at home but each communicated well with Hindi the national language. Much like Mini-India. Thus, they learnt each others customs and food preparations celebrated all festivals and enjoyed every bit as a big family. Autonagar was the the place they began to stay when they first started their job in Visakhapatnam in 1981.Hence, the name stuck on. Even today, all friends fondly remember this recipe even though they stay in different cities and countries. Trust me friendships of 30+ years staying fresh and reliable just like this humble bread pakoda. This is the name my Dad gave when somebody asked him what is this dish. It tastes wonderful.
Thus, this recipe will always be special to me. They are my pick-me up when I am down. As each plate comes with so many fond memories!
Sharing this recipe so that you can make some too.
They are perfect when it rains or when its cold or when you are just not in a mood to cook something elaborate. Below I have given both the traditional as well as the air fryer version so that everyone can enjoy the recipe.
Ingredients
- Besan/gramflour/chickpea flour
- Slices of brown/white bread slices
- Mashed potato mix with salt and spices
- Green chutney
- Tomato Ketchup/Tamarind chutney/spicy pickle masala
- Baking soda
- Turmeric powder
- Red chili powder
- Salt as per taste
- Oil for frying
How to make bread pakora?
Below are the steps to make the fritters in the traditional method by frying them.
- Spread chutney on the bread slices. (Make sure you do not keep them for long before frying else it gets soggy)
2. Add the potato mix on slice. Cover with another slice. Cut them diagonally so that it looks like triangles.
3. Meanwhile, keep ¼ gram flour aside in a plate. Mix ¾ cup of besan with spices, baking soda and water to make a thick batter.Dip the bread sandwich in dry besan first and then in the besan batter.
4. Deep fry them in hot oil until golden brown, evenly on both sides.
5. Serve them hot.
How to make bread pakora in air fryer?
Below are the steps to make the fritter in air fryer. Follow 1-3 to make the bread pakoras. Instead of step 4 of deep frying, use the below airfryer method.
- Cut the bread into smaller pieces for the air fryer. Place the pakora on the air fryer basked which is already lined with parchment paper. The baking paper should have holes in it. Also the consistency for the besan batter should be slightly thicker for air fryer version.
2. Place all the slices.
3. Air fry the bread pakora for 7-8 mins at 190 deg C, brush oil and cook further for 5 minutes.
4. Remove the parchment paper/baking sheet,Flip the fritters ,brush with oil and continue to cook for 5-6 minutes or until cooked.
5. Serve bread pakora hot with chutney or sauce.
Bread Pakoda recipe
Equipment
- kadai/frying pan (traditional method)
- air fryer for low oil version
- whisk
Ingredients
- 1 cup besan/gramflour/chickpea flour
- 6 slices of brown/white bread slices
- Green chutney
- Tomato Ketchup/Tamarind chutney/Pickle masala
- 1 Pinch of baking soda
- 1 cup of mashed boiled potatoes with salt and half of spices below
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- Spread chutney on the bread slices.
- Add the potato mix on slice,cover with another slice.
- Cut the bread sandwich diagonally in 2 equal sizes.
- Meanwhile,keep ¼ besan aside in a plate.
- Mix ¾ cup of besan with spices,baking soda and water to make a thick batter.
- Dip the bread sandwich in dry besan first and then in the besan batter.
For traditional method (frying)
- Fry in hot oil on both sides.
For low oil air fryer version
- Place the pakora on the air fryer basked which is already lined with parchment paper. The baking paper should have holes in it. Also the consistency for the besan batter should be slightly thicker for air fryer version.
- Place all the slices.
- Air fry the bread pakora for 7-8 mins at 190 deg C, brush oil and cook further for 5 minutes.
- Remove the parchment paper/baking sheet, flip the fritters ,brush with oil and continue to cook for 5-6 minutes or until cooked.
- Serve hot with mint chutney and tomato ketchup.
Notes
Nutrition
Variation
You can make the fritters without the chutneys. Add a pickle masala on one side if you like it hot and spicy. You may only add a tomato sauce on the bread if making for kids who cannot handle too much spice. You may even omit sauce. It depends on what you like, these fritters can be customized. You may omit the potato stuffing too if in a rush. Just dip bread in chickpea batter and fry it. Add a teaspoon of garam masala powder, amchur or dry mango powder instead to the batter so that you get the tangy flavor.
Need more frittter recipes?
- Paneer pakoda
- Sanna pakoda/Sindhi Onion pakora
- Mirchi vada/mirchi pakoda/Bajji
- Moong dal ke pakode
- Baked onion pakoda
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